


Payphones

by pastafaith



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-03-22 14:49:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3732913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastafaith/pseuds/pastafaith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Hello?"<br/>"Uh, yeah. John?"<br/>"...What?"<br/>"I'm sorry."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> lmao time to try multi chapter writing

It happened quickly. A whirlwind of sorts. They met at a party, instantly fell in love, and all those other clichés. Then, a second girl got added to the equation. And a third. Then another guy. After that, they didn't split, no, but they fought, and fought, and fought. Until one gave up, returned their key, packed their bags, and left. He found a new place, made new friends, and all but forgot her. 

The girl, however, didn't leave; that is, until she was evicted. Not paying the rent for three months does that. She took her notebook, wallet, some clothes, a hairbrush, some deodorant, and disappeared. Took a bus all the way to the other side of the country, didn't tell anyone where she was going. She ended up in California, didn't like it there, and went to Vegas. 

The boy was doing perfectly fine in New York, New York, waiting tables and auditioning for parts in anything. Every night, he'd go home, make some ramen or other easy meal, sit on his laptop, and wonder where she went. He tried to pretend he didn't miss her, but being a different person is easier than hiding what you feel. His friends tried cheering him up, setting up blind dates and taking him to parties, but nothing ever worked out. When someone breaks you like she had, it's hard to get back into the swing of things. 

The girl was doing great, or so it seemed. With her new electric blue hair and attitude, she became a legend in the casinos. Everyone would claim she was a cheater, she'd laugh and say it was just luck. Which, it was. The luck of people not looking. She'd go back to her hotel every night, jump on the cushy bed, and open a bottle of $40 booze. One of her only friends was a bottle blonde dancer, who was always up for drinking. Said dancer asked what New York was like, dreaming to someday join the Rockettes. 

"It fits, because I'm Roxy!" she'd always joke, laughing loudly. 

Vriska would smile, and take another sip from the bottle. 

One night, Roxy didn't come over, and Vriska sat in her dark room, alone. After sitting there for nearly two hours, not taking into account it was four in the morning on the east coast, she ran downstairs and to the closest phone box. She would've used the phone in her room, had she not broken it when she lost one night. 

She put two quarters in the slot, and dialed the number, "Please have the same number." she kept repeating, her hands shaking. 

John was woken up to his generic ringtone, and groaned. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, yawned, and looked at the number. It wasn't a New York number, so he figured it was a telemarketer, but answered anyway. 

"Hello?" His voice was rough, having just woken up. 

"Uh, yeah. John?" She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, waiting for his response. 

John recognized the voice easily, and held back a sigh, "...What do you want?" 

"I'm sorry."

The line went dead. John looked at his screen, confused. Did he accidentally hang up?

"Please insert 50 cents." Vriska punched the side of the box, startling a drunk girl stumbling back to her hotel.


	2. Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Vriska calle-" His phone started ringing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao meet my terezi a.k.a. my child

John didn't sleep the for the rest of the night. Instead, he got up, got dressed, and slouched his way to the nearest 24-hour Starbucks, which was very close, it being NYC and all. He sat among the few other college-aged kids, all up typing on their laptops. They looked a bit younger than him, and one had an AADA sticker, and so John talked to her for a while. He found out her name was Rose, and she was actually almost two years older than him. Rose had lived in New York all her life, and had family in Vegas. After the sun had come up, and Terezi, his closest friend, started texting him, he said his goodbyes, got Rose's contact info, and left. 

The day was sunny, which was uncommon for the season, and John found himself in Central Park, people-watching. Terezi kept texting him, asking where he was, because she wanted to get lunch before heading to work. Terezi was a bartender who worked afternoons and nights, until midnight. She was also legally blind without her glasses, which she insisted have red lenses. A very eccentric girl, indeed. 

After about twenty consecutive texts, John finally replied and arranged to meet her at a small restaurant near his apartment. When he got there, he was surprised to find that a mop of flame colored hair already present, waving eagerly. He sat down, and a waitress asked what drink he wanted almost immediately. The restaurant was nearly empty, a small 50's themed pizza place. Terezi's naturally too loud voice echoed.

"Sooooo John, you were awake early. What happened?" Terezi knew John hated waking up before the sun was in the sky, and she had a hunch something was wrong.

John shrugged, looking at the menu and trying to be nonchalant, "Why do you think something happened, TZ?"

Terezi rolled her eyes, "Siiiiiigh. John, you know I know you better than that. Just tell me, and I won't have to force it out of you," she stared him dead in the eye, a devilish grin on her face that makes most people uncomfortable, including John.

John actually sighed, instead of just saying the word, "Vriska calle-" He was cut off by his phone ringing, and he got up and nearly ran outside.

 

Windows are Terezi's favorite thing, especially when she sits next to them and can see her best friend anxiously pacing while on the phone with his ex-lover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah these chapters are short oh well they feel longer when they're in my head


	3. More Phone Calls, feat. Internet Stalking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, that happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cameo of nepeta, equius, and sollux oops

"So... Why'd you hang up?" John's voice betrayed his anxiety over this call. 

Vriska sighed, "I was using a payphone, like I am now. I didn't mean to."

John nodded in understanding, then remembered that Vriska couldn't see him, "Oh, okay. Uh... How's the weather?"

She rolled her eyes, "Seriously? I call you to finish a deep conversation, and you ask about the weather? How about this: It's Vegas, the weather is hot and there's slutty girls almost raining. Is that the answer you wanted?"

"Alright, alright, sheesh. Maybe this is why we didn't work out, you know. Your temper."

"I do not have a temper!" Vriska stamped her foot in the little booth, causing a passing gambler to give her an odd look.

John chuckled, "Sure you don't. Anyways, what exactly were you apologizing for? Breaking my heart? Cheating on me? Packing up and leaving without telling anyone where you were going? Hell, Terezi was worried sick! Are you apologizing for not taking into account anyone but yourself, or for something entirely different?" His tone had flowed from light, to bitter, to furious. He had stopped pacing, and was standing in the middle of the sidewalk with his arms flailing, making a small girl walking a cat with a tall bodybuilder cross the street to avoid him.

"Everything! Everything I did wrong, everything you did wrong, everything that happened! Meeting you, going to that party, moving to New York, breathing, okay? I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen like this." Vriska slumped against the side of the phone booth, losing all her steam as she realized the weight of the blame that was on her. It was finally John's turn to be mad, not the other way around.

Terezi was watching John's side of the exchange, and wasn't too pleased by the results. Her phone pinged. She looked down, read it, and typed back. _it's not going too well... >:[_

John's expression had gone from furious to frigid, "How did you mean it to happen, then?"

"Not with me calling you from Vegas, using my loose change in a payphone, that's for damn sure," Vriska paused, taking a deep breath, "Goodbye, John."

His eyes widened, "Vriska, wai-" There was a click, and John took his frustration out on a wall nearby, punching the uneven brick as hard as he could, and then walking back inside the restaurant.

Terezi's ever-cheerful smile greeted him as he sat back down, determined to keep the mood light, "It's a good thing you're so weak, otherwise you'd have gotten more than just bloody knuckles!" 

"Shut up, I'm not weak. I just didn't feel like breaking my hand." 

Terezi rolled her eyes, and looked at the menu. It was quite obvious it didn't go well, and she had to know why. What are friends for, anyway? After lunch, she did some internet stalking and found out which hotel Vriska was staying in. She messaged a friend who knew his way around the internet, and got info on the one person Vriska has been hanging out with. A certain Roxy Lalonde. She messaged Roxy on Facebook, explained the deal, and conjured up a plan. 

Roxy wasn't expecting a message, especially from a Teareasy Pieropey or whatever. And why would she believe this story that this girl with weird red glasses was friends with a John, who happened to date Vriska a while ago? Because Vriska still had pictures of them together on Facebook, tagged with his name, but not his account. Vriska doesn't use Facebook anymore, since she doesn't have a computer or phone, but the pictures were there. Vriska's posts also disappeared around the time Teareasy said that Vriska left, and when she started showing up at Roxy's club. And with some internet stalking of her own, Roxy found that Teareasy _was_ friends with John, and they have a lot of pictures together, so Teareasy _must_ be telling the truth. Also, Teareasy was actually Terezi Pyrope. Oops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise i don't pronounce terezi's name as teareasy pieropey
> 
> also how would you guys feel if i incorporated the outfit choices of these losers not in the actual passage, but in the notes?


	4. Plans and Parades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _aight tp (lmao that means toilet paper but its also ur initials)_  
>  plan get these 2 luvbirds back 2gether is a GO 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im flying on the seat of my pants until vriska hits nyc oh no
> 
> also, TWO CHAPTERS IN THE SAME SEQUENCE OF 24 HOURS??????////  
> HWAT????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111

"Soooo... How come you never explained the 'John Situation' to me before?" Roxy was sitting criss-crossed at the foot of Vriska's bed, putting air-quotes around "John Situation." 

Vriska looked up from the Rubix cube she was playing with, "It's not important." 

Roxy sighed. A legitimate sigh, for once. This was not going to be easy. But, it would have to be dealt with tomorrow, as she had to get ready to work. She rolled off the bed(literally) and landed on all fours, then stood up and went to the tiny hotel closet, pulling out two tiny sets of sparkly lingerie-type clothing, and holding each set up next to her, "Black with pink polk-a-dots, or pink with black stripes?"

"Do the stripes if you want a girlier look, dots if you want sexy." Vriska said, barely looking at them. Roxy was going to look sexy either way, she gets paid for it. 

Roxy nodded, then stuffed the outfit into her bag, and left without saying goodbye, as per usual. Vriska had just about given up on the Rubix cube, and tossed it carelessly onto her nightstand. She shouldn't have hung up. She shouldn't have called. She shouldn't have left. Had she stayed, maybe there would've been a chance at reconciliation with John. But then, she wouldn't have met Roxy, and Roxy still would've been sleeping with customers on the side. With the help Vriska had given Roxy, both the girls finally left their dishonest lives. Well, mostly. Vriska still gambled, which wasn't too honest. 

Roxy was in a terrible place before she met Vriska. Her job wasn't paying half as much as it does, so she had to resort to "hanging out" with the club's customers after hours. She was in a slump, and drank way too much. Because of the drinking, she'd show up late to work, and wouldn't be able to perform well, sometimes at all. The hangovers were killers, too. Roxy still drank, of course, but that was only with Vriska, and they never drank enough to give them more than a little buzz. After Vriska showed up, she'd pay Roxy to "hang," except that was exactly what they did. They talked, and slowly became friends. Vriska helped Roxy slow down on the drinking, starting a ripple effect, where Roxy started performing better, getting paid more, and no longer sleeping around to make extra cash. She'd always help Vriska touch up her hair, too. Roxy was always optimistic, which made her come off as dumb. Vriska knew she was anything but.

Now, in the real world, on the other side of the country, Terezi called in sick to work, and was pacing around her house at 7 pm, concocting a plan. Since she wasn't supposed to be on her phone when on-duty, she wasn't worried about John not knowing where she was in case she didn't respond. The strawberry blonde mumbled to herself, "So if we get John out to Vegas...no no no he knows she's in Vegas he'd figure it out. We could get her over here, since Rose lives here according to John. Roxy could say she has to visit and ask Vriska along...would that work? Probably." She was arguing with herself, coming up with all these different plans. 

Finally, she decided on one. Roxy would get Vriska to New York in one way or another, and Terezi would force John to go to the Easter parade, and then Terezi and Roxy would communicate by text, eventually forcing John and Vriska to be near each other for the first time in 18 months. Terezi grabbed her phone, and explained the plan to Roxy via text message.

Roxy checked her phone on her break, and grinned widely at the screen. She called Rose, saying she was dropping in for a visit Easter weekend, and Rose agreed to it. Now, what would she tell Vriska? Rose didn't want to be alone? That's never the case, Rose loves being alone, but Vriska doesn't know that, so it'll work.

_aight tp (lmao that means toilet paper but its also ur initials)  
plan get these 2 luvbirds back 2gether is a GO _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look a tiny backstory for roxy the one that fills the VOID in my soul
> 
> please laugh at my crappy joke.


	5. Please Prepare for Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You already said yes! Get in the shower right now, I'll pack your stuff." Roxy started pushing Vriska towards the bathroom door, and Vriska didn't even protest, she hadn't showered in a few days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mAN I AM SO SORRY IT'S BEEN MORE THAN A MONTH I'M SORRY I ONLY HAVE TWO WEEKS OF SCHOOL LEFT AND SO FINALS AND STUFF I APOLOGIZE ANYWAYS HERE'S THE CHAPTER I'LL DO BETTER I'M SORRY

"Aww, Rosie, pleeeease? I promise she wouldn't cause trouble!" Roxy was begging Rose to let Vriska stay with them.

"Roxanne, I wouldn't have room for her. I'm sorry, but I can't allow it." Rose rolled her eyes on the other end of the phone. Like hell she'd let a stranger stay in her apartment. It was already bad enough that Roxy was bringing someone along. Didn't she want to come to spend Easter with her family?

Rose sighed. Probably not.

Roxy was quiet for a while, "Alright, she'll stay somewhere else. What about your girlfriend's house?"

"No."

Roxy crossed her arms, knowing that Rose couldn't see it, but not caring, "Fine. She probably has some friends there, and I'll stay with them too. Ooh! Maybe they'll be close to a bar. We could couch surf, if it comes to that, and-"

Rose let out a very audible sigh, "She'll need to sleep on the floor."

"Thank you, Rosie!" 

The next step was finding a flight. After a few hours of searching, and a few hundred in phone bills, the pair found a flight that wasn't too much money. Unfortunately for the ladies, the flight left in less than 24 hours, which meant Roxy had her work cut out for her. Convincing Vriska, packing, packing for Vriska, forcing Vriska to shower, etc. 

The bleached blonde worked as hard as she could, so she could get off earlier, and then hurried to the hotel Vriska stayed in. It wasn't as run down as most motels, and it was an actual hotel, but not a classy one. Vriska had been staying there so long that the concierge knew Roxy by name and face, and didn't even bother telling her not to run in the halls, because she'd do it anyway. 

She burst into the room(Vriska gave her a keycard) and leaped onto the bed, startling Vriska, who was reading the Bible for the millionth time. She wasn't religious, it was the only book in the room. "Alright so, Rose lives alone and she's my sister you know and Easter is usually a family holiday, and we're the only family we got, and so Rose was wondering if I could come to her place for Easter you know and I was thinking maybe you could come to because I hate traveling alone and you'd be alone and that'd be bad, so what do you think?" Roxy talked a mile a minute, and Vriska surprisingly kept up.

"Sounds cool. When does the flight leave?" Vriska shrugged indifferently, dropping the book back into the drawer in the nightstand.

"Well... What time is it? Only 11? Man, I got off early. Anyways, the flight leaves at 3:30 and I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you before, I booked it right before I left for work and I didn't have time to stop by and tell you and oh man you gotta pack and you gotta shower and I gotta pack and-" 

"Goddammit, Rox." Vriska heaved herself up off the bed, pacing around the room, "I'm not sure if I wanna go now, where are we going anyways?"

"You already said yes! Get in the shower right now, I'll pack your stuff." Roxy started pushing Vriska towards the bathroom door, and Vriska didn't even protest, she hadn't showered in a few days. 

When the water had heated up enough that the mirror started fogging, Vriska sighed, "This better not be a bad idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know it doesn't seem like vriska put up much of a fight even tho roxy "has her work cut out for her" just wait plz


	6. Fight and Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ahem..." The speaker crackled to life, "Flight 17A, to New York City, will begin boarding momentarily."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter title is a pun you're welcome  
> see if you can spot my easter egg btw
> 
> it's also a little filler i am sorry

"Ahem..." The speaker crackled to life, "Flight 17A, to New York City, will begin boarding momentarily."  
Vriska visibly stiffened once she heard the destination. She knew by now, of course, but it still made her uncomfortable. Not to mention the awkward silence between her and her travel buddy. It wasn't so awkward for Vriska as it was for Roxy, though. Vriska's the one who's pissed. 

Roxy tossed her coffee cup into the trash a few feet away, earning some glares from tired businessmen, and flopped on top of her luggage. She sighed loudly, blowing the hair out of her face. It was 3:15 am, and neither of the girls wanted to be sitting on a plane for 3 hours, with an hour in Minneapolis, and then 3 to New York. They'd get there around one, giving them two and a half days to prepare for Easter. 

Vriska cleared her throat. The silence was getting annoying, but she wouldn't back down. Roxy didn't know much about John, but she knew that New York City was where he lived. The two got into a heated argument on the cab to the airport, after Roxy finally admitted the location of Rose's apartment. Neither spoke a word to the other since. They stood in line to board, getting jostled by angry businessmen who knew they were more important than the two barely-legal girls that were in their way.

Once finally on the plane, sitting in an almost empty coach cabin(this was a red-eye flight made up of mostly businessmen, of course), Roxy finally turned to Vriska, "I'm sorry, okay? Can we talk like regular human beings now?"

Rolling her eyes and taking her headphones out, Vriska looked over, "Fine. That coffee was way overpriced for the quality." 

The two laughed, and after being shushed, continued whispering to each other.

After about 20 minutes, the flight attendants started checking overhead compartments and the pilot came on-air, "Gooooood morning everybody, my name is Mierfa Durgas and I will be your pilot for both this and your connecting flight to New York, New York this early morning. Please turn off all electronics and remain seated until the light goes off. Thank you, and enjoy your flight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for dropping off the face of the Earth again I will try to be present more often.
> 
> okay but in comic. tAVROS THOUGH.

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: this was based off a mep I watched way back in my weeb phase, then rewatched right before writing this.


End file.
